Bullion - Nearly [Celadon]

London producer Nathan Jenkins has spent the last few years as one of the most in-demand collaborators in left-field pop, working with Nilüfer Yanya, Westerman, Ben Howard, Oliver Sim and Avalon Emerson. Nearly is his second Bullion album for Ghostly International, arriving two years after Affection, and by his own admission it is not the record he set out to make.

The original plan was an album with no songs at all. What emerged instead is ten tracks of warm, intricately built electronic pop, full of small melodic surprises and unexpected textures. L Devine guests on two of the highlights, "Francis Ford" and "The Arm Of Cinderella," while Ethan P. Flynn and other players add live instrumentation throughout. Singles "Francis Ford" and "Applegene" show both sides of the record: bright and hooky on one hand, strange and tender on the other.

It is a producer's album that never feels like a showcase, just a set of beautifully made songs that reward close listening.

Pressed on limited celadon colored vinyl.